Wild Berries

Wild Berries is such a charming story about a little boy and his grandmother going out to collect blueberries. The two enjoy nature, each other’s company, and of course blueberries. Grandma likes soft sweet ones, while Clarence likes large sour ones.Flett’s illustrations have this very modern quality to them that is just beautiful. They are simple but not simplistic and there is always plenty to look at. I love her use of a muted, natural palette. It fits well with the wild berry picking story. She also employs textures very effectively. They seem to draw your eye around the page and to important details.The typography in the book is also incredibly stunning. It stuck out to me in a way few other books have. Certain key words are pulled out of the text and placed on their own line in a more fanciful font. This is then echoed with the word written in the Swampy Cree dialect in the same font, but this time in red. (There is a very interesting note at the beginning and end about the Cree dialect used in the book.)The book is, at least to American audiences, akin to Blueberries for Sal and if you are looking for diverse books to incorporate into your curriculum you could certainly use this one in place of Blueberries or in tandem with it. I would recommend this to parents looking to diversify their bookshelves too. Make space in your budget and on your shelves for this one.

If you just read When We Were Alone are looking for another book to explore the work of Julie Fleet, this is a nice choice. It's not bringing the tragedy and connections to the page, but just a simple story about a mother and her baby in the woods. Nice, simple, beautiful, wonderful

A book that will make a great companion book to the classic Blueberry for Sal by Robert McCloskey. Love books with recipes - read it, make the blueberry jam and read it again. A lot of fun.

A young child goes blueberry picking with his grandmother in this quiet, rhythmic story, told in English with the lovely addition of words in a Cree dialect that are worked naturally into the story. The illustrations, in collage and watercolor are just glorious; spare and elegant with a great appreciation for the natural world. Using just a few colors the reader falls into the peace of this stylized forest. Important details are highlighted and there is great appreciation for the beauty of the natural world on every page, including some animals for the young reader to find. The sonorous sound of blueberries falling into a basket reminded me of the sound of grass in Gail Haley's A Story A Story, her prize winning African tale. There is a glossary of Cree words used in the story and and a page on Cree pronunciation at the back. This will be a treat for adults and young children to share and for anybody interested in the art of illustration.

I try and donate books to a school and researched best Native American children’s authors. This arrived for the school library and the teacher I correspond with told me the kids enjoyed the story very much. Always nice to find books young ones enjoy reading.

This is one book my three-year-old son and I love to read together. We love the illustrations and the way Flett teaches both nehiyawewin (the Cree language) and Cree values in this book. There is also anther version out there (more difficult to find) that is written all in Cree, with syllabics and Roman orthography.

Sweet story

Great for my grade 1s!